1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to high speed data links and, more particularly, to high speed links for video and audio interfaces.
2. Description of Related Art
High definition multimedia interface (HDMI) is a digital standard for video and audio transmission used in consumer electronics. The HDMI interface and link uses four pairs of wires to transfer a single video/audio stream from the transmitter to the receiver. One pair transfers the differential clock signal for synchronization of data, the other three pairs are used to transfer the pixel information. This use of four pairs for transmitting the video/audio information limits the scalability of the HDMI interface and link for higher bandwidth transmissions and multi-stream transmissions.
The DisplayPort (DP) communication standard is an interface and link protocol for transferring video/audio and data across computer systems and consumer electronics devices. The DP protocol is scalable in terms of usable bandwidth and has a higher bandwidth than HDMI. The DP protocol uses one to four pairs (called lanes) depending on the needed bandwidth to transmit a single video/audio stream. In case the link does not need four pairs of wires to transfer information, one or two lanes can also be used to transfer one stream of video/audio data depending on the bandwidth needed. Since all available lanes can only be used for a single stream, the DP protocol has no scalability with respect to transmission of multiple streams over the same pairs of connections.
It would hence be advantageous if a single fully scalable interface and link can be provided which scales for both bandwidth and number of video streams that can be transmitted. It would be further advantageous if the interface and link could be used instead of both HDMI and DP so that this interface and link can have widespread applicability.